What is the Coriolis effect?

Answer 1

Coriolis Effect:

An apparent force, relative to the earth's surface, that causes deflection of moving objects to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere due to the earth's rotation.

In layman's terms, it is when a moving object appears to move or curve away from its intended destination due to the rotation or movement of its destination or its dispatcher.

For example, two people are playing catch on a merry-go-round. Both of them are rotating with the merry-go-round as it spins. The thrower tosses the ball to the catcher. The ball follows a straight path, but because the catcher is moving the ball appears to curve away from him.

History of the Coriolis effect is: an inertial force described by the 19th-century French engineer-mathematician Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis in 1835.
Coriolis?

You're best seeing something visual on this as it is easier to understand. There are plenty of good videos on YouTube.

What you need to remember is that air at the equator is moving faster than air closer to the poles. Think about a bike wheel - the circumference of the outside of the wheel is much bigger than the circumference right next to the axis. So, for one full rotation of the wheel, the outside travels further in the same amount of time as the inside. In order to do this, it needs to move faster.

The same goes for planet Earth. If air moving at the equator moves north, it is travelling faster than air in the area it is moving to. The air appears to be deflected to the right, you can think of it as overtaking the air in the new northern area it has moved to because it is moving faster.

The Coriolis force accounts for global wind and ocean current patterns - a really important concept to get your head around. Coriolis effect is when a mass is moving in a rotating system. The movement is in a perpendicular direction.
The curving of the path of a moving object from an otherwise straight pat due to Earth's rotation.

Answer 2

I believe the Coriolis Effect describes the direction that water swirls down the drain or in the toilet. North of the Equator, the water swirls counter-clockwise; south of the Equator, the water swirls clockwise.

The Coriolis Force is not a real force but is a matter of positional realitivity on a spinning spherical surface (such as the surface of the earth) If you were to start at the north pole and walk directly south with no external forces acting on you - you would start to see (the farther south you went) that the earth would start moving faster and faster, west to east, beneath your feet. This is because the earth is spinning and you are stationary. This is not what happens in real life of course. If you started at the north pole and walked directly southward you would maintain your frame of reference with the earth, assuming the same west-east velocity as the earth to keep yourself stationary with the piece of earth surface you are currently on. In other words not only do you walk southwards but you also accelerate yourself to an west-east velocity to match the earth's velocity. Believe it or not but it is easier (less energy) to walk west-east or east-west than north-south or south-north because you don't have to change your velocity. Now when air blow from the north down to the south it doesn't want to accelerate west-east, so those of us who stand stationary on the earth seem to see some force pushing the moving air to the side. This apparent force has been called the Coriolis force - but really there is no such a thing.

Answer 3

Coriolis Effect: an apparent deflection of moving objects when viewed from a rotating reference frame.

In layman's terms, it is when a moving object appears to move or curve away from its intended destination due to the rotation or movement of its destination or its dispatcher.


For example, two people are playing catch on a merry-go-round. Both of them are rotating with the merry-go-round as it spins. The thrower tosses the ball to the catcher. The ball follows a straight path, but because the catcher is moving the ball appears to curve away from him.

Answer 4

Currents to bend to the right in the Northern Hemisphere

Answer 5

An object in motion on the Earth's surface always appears to be deflected away from its course. This effect is a result of the Earth's rotation.

Answer 6

The cause of Coriolis effect is the Earth's rotation and the mass of inertia. The deflection effects the direction of moving bodies on earth surface.

Answer 7

the force possessed due to the movement of earth is Coriolis force i guess!! sorry if wrong

Answer 8

The Coriolis effect is when convection cells are in place in the atmosphere and Earth is spinning on its axis, these global winds appear to curve.